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I Have Fallen in Love With Open Earbuds (and You Should Too)

WIRED

From jogging and cycling to multi-tasking or puttering around the house, open earbuds are an excellent way to jam out in the real world. If you've done any wireless earbuds shopping lately, you've likely noticed a new design category cropping up everywhere. They're called open earbuds (or open-ear buds, depending on the brand), and just about every audio brand has a pair (or three). They come in a slew of styles, but most either loop around your ears like older Beats buds, or clip on like funky-futuristic earrings. Whatever the style, they're designed to deliver satisfying sound while keeping your ear canals open to the sounds of the world around you.


The Download: US immigration agencies' AI videos, and inside the Vitalism movement

MIT Technology Review

Plus: French company Capgemini has confirmed it's no longer working with ICE The US Department of Homeland Security is using AI video generators from Google and Adobe to make and edit content shared with the public, a new document reveals. The document, released on Wednesday, provides an inventory of which commercial AI tools DHS uses for tasks ranging from generating drafts of documents to managing cybersecurity. It comes as immigration agencies have flooded social media with content to support President Trump's mass deportation agenda--some of which appears to be made with AI--and as workers in tech have put pressure on their employers to denounce the agencies' activities. For the last couple of years, I've been following the progress of a group of individuals who believe death is humanity's "core problem." Put simply, they say death is wrong--for everyone. They've even said it's morally wrong.


Wellbeing 2026: Recovery, JOMO and brain boosting supplements

BBC News

Wellbeing has become such a priceless (or in many cases pricey) endeavour that we can't seem to get enough of it. Last year, we were mainlining magnesium, consuming creatine - a muscle boosting supplement that became mainstream, and we turned to AI chatbots for help with anything from a personalised training regime to a daily meal plan. What is the multi-trillion pound industry focussing on in 2026? Several experts give us their thoughts on what's on the wellbeing agenda. If 2025 was about smashing targets at the gym, tracking runs to the second and lifting heavier and heavier weights, then this year is all about recovery.


This Group Pays Bounties to Repair Broken Devices--Even If the Fix Breaks the Law

WIRED

Fulu sets repair bounties on consumer products that employ sneaky features that limit user control. Just this week, it awarded more than $10,000 to the person who hacked the Molekule air purifier. Companies tend to be rather picky about who gets to poke around inside their products. Manufacturers sometimes even take steps that prevent consumers from repairing their device when it breaks, or modifying it with third-party products. But those unsanctioned device modifications have become the raison d'être of a bounty program set up by a nonprofit called Fulu, or Freedom from Unethical Limitations on Users.


With the Rise of AI, Cisco Sounds an Urgent Alarm About the Risks of Aging Tech

WIRED

Generative AI is making it even easier for attackers to exploit old and often forgotten network equipment. Replacing it takes investment, but Cisco is making the case that it's worth it. Aging digital infrastructure equipment like routers, network switches, and network-attached storage--has long posed a silent risk to organizations. In the short term, it's cheaper and easier to just leave those boxes running in a forgotten closet. But this infrastructure may have old, insecure configurations, and legacy tech is often no longer supported by vendors for software patches and other protections.



I tried OpenAI's new Atlas browser but I still don't know what it's for

MIT Technology Review

I tried OpenAI's new Atlas browser but I still don't know what it's for My impression is that it is little more than cynicism masquerading as software. OpenAI ChatGPT Atlas introducing is being displayed on a mobile phone with the company's branding seen in the background, in this photo illustration. Taken in Brussels, Belgium, on 23 October 2025. OpenAI rolled out a new web browser last week called Atlas. It comes with ChatGPT built in, along with an agent, so that you can browse, get direct answers, and have automated tasks performed on your behalf all at the same time. I've spent the past several days tinkering with Atlas.



Character.AI Gave Up on AGI. Now It's Selling Stories

WIRED

After school, Karandeep Anand often finds his 6-year-old daughter deep in conversation with an AI chatbot as she eats snacks at their kitchen counter. She's too young to type--let alone have her own account on Character.AI--but that hasn't stopped her from nabbing his phone to have voice conversations with a Sherlock Holmes bot, which she uses to build her own mystery stories. Character.AI is an AI companion startup (though Anand likes to say it's an AI role-play startup, which we'll get into later). He took over as the CEO in June in the midst of a potentially devastating lawsuit for its parent company and looming questions about child safety. When I ask if he's concerned about his daughter connecting with an AI chatbot rather than a real human, he's quick to say no.


Affordable 3D-printed bionic arm uses muscle signals to move

FOX News

Kurt Knutsson discusses how the Hero PRO, a wireless, waterproof bionic arm with fast control and full 360-degree wrist rotation, transforms prosthetics. Bionic arms used to cost more than a new car. Unlimited Tomorrow is making 3D-printed prosthetics available for under 8,000 and doing it without sacrificing quality, comfort or functionality. Easton LaChappelle founded the company in 2014 at the age of 18. His simple goal was to give more people access to advanced prosthetics that actually fit their lives.